TOTTERING

tottering

(adjective) (of structures or institutions) having lost stability; failing or on the point of collapse; “a tottering empire”

tottering, tottery

(adjective) unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age; “a tottering skeleton of a horse”; “a tottery old man”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Verb

tottering

present participle of totter

Adjective

tottering (comparative more tottering, superlative most tottering)

Unsteady, precarious or rickety.

Unstable, insecure or wobbly.

Noun

tottering (plural totterings)

The movement of one who totters.

Synonyms

• (not held or fixed securely and likely to fall over): precarious, rickety, shaky, unsteady, unsafe, unstable, wobbly

Source: Wiktionary

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TOTTER

Tot"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tottered; p. pr. & vb. n. Tottering.] Etym: [Probably for older tolter; cf. AS. tealtrian to totter, vacillate. Cf.Tilt to incline, Toddle, Tottle, Totty.]

1. To shake so as to threaten a fall; to vacillate; to be unsteady; to stagger; as,an old man totters with age. "As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence." Ps. lxii. 3.

2. To shake; to reel; to lean; to waver. Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall. Dryden.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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